


Jacob Two-Two and A Nightmare in Montreal

by Katiebug586



Series: Jacob Two-Two and the Anthology Album [7]
Category: Jacob Two-Two - All Media Types
Genre: Blood and Gore, Dreams and Nightmares, Mild Gore, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-23
Updated: 2020-03-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:00:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23282164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katiebug586/pseuds/Katiebug586
Summary: Jacob's been avoiding Buford and Renee, but why? It's up to them to find out.Rated T for gore.
Series: Jacob Two-Two and the Anthology Album [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1549141
Kudos: 2





	Jacob Two-Two and A Nightmare in Montreal

In the usually busy city of Montreal, apart from the light rain and occasional drive-by of a car, it was dead quiet. On any normal night, the sounds of laughter and noise would fill the city, deep into the earliest hours of the morning. Even deep in the heart of the suburbs, it was not uncommon to hear a commotion as drunken people returned from their college-level hooliganing. For any normal person, this would be a blessing, as it was some long-sought-after quiet that would allow them to get a good night’s sleep. However, for a certain young boy, this certain silence could not be any less in his favor, as the fewer people around, the fewer ears to hear your screams.

This young boy, too panicked to remember his name, was running out of places to hide. There were only so many places in a factory that would actually be useful in the scenario someone needed to hide and almost all of them had failed him so far. Despite that, he had to find another hiding spot, and quick, because he was also running out of time.

He heard giant paw steps on the thick concrete a few yards away from him and his heart sank, not only from fear, but also from sadness. _Why would Carl do this to his friends?_ Whatever, it didn’t matter, he had to escape, find Dinglebat, tell him what happened, and then-

Before he could finish his mental plan, he was tackled to the ground by a spindly assassin. Baring it’s venom-dripping fangs at the small boy, the spider got ready to pounce, ready to strike the shaking boy and inject him with its fatal poison that would turn his insides to liquid, or whatever the boy’s friend, Buford, told him happened when spiders ate, way before this whole mess happened.

But before it could deliver the killing blow, it suddenly let out a screech of pain. Did Mr. Dinglebat come to the rescue and tranquilize the creature? But before he could thank his lucky stars, the spider toppled over, crooked glasses falling onto the pavement below them. It was then that the boy saw who was behind it, and it wasn’t Dinglebat.

It was a giant 8-foot raccoon/tanuki-like creature, red fur standing out and making it look like it was on fire, along with black markings on its face, tail, and back. However, that wasn’t the most concerning part, which was the fact that it’s uneven and rather crooked teeth were biting down on the spider’s neck, which was bent in an odd and unnatural way. This wasn’t any tranquilizer gun.

Renee was dead and Buford had killed her.

Before he could realize what had _truly_ just occurred, the raccoon let out a vicious howl and swung its paw over the boy’s throat, slicing his jugular artery. He let out a scream of pain, putting his hand on his neck, feeling the blood squirt like a pinata that had been busted open.

He could feel himself losing consciousness from the massive blood loss, and for just a moment, the raccoon instead looked like his best friend, his usually goofy face twisted into a bitter snarl. He felt the world collapse around himself, before-

He gasped, sitting up straight. Looking around, he realized he was in the attic, and that no, his throat wasn’t just sliced open, and it was another nightmare, just like the ones he’d been having for weeks on end.

_‘I’m Jacob Two-Two, I’m fine, my friends are fine, they’re not monsters, I’m not dead…’_ Jacob repeated to himself, touching the spot on his throat where dream Raccoon Buford had struck. No wound was there, obviously, just a regular, normal neck.

But how long would it be until this became a reality? While Jacob was usually just your average boy, he was also involved in a lot of spy work, thanks to his neighbor, Mr. Dinglebat. Due to that, and also because of his inquisitive nature, he had made a lot of enemies, some worse than others. He certainly wouldn’t put pulling something like that past some of them, especially Carl Fester King.

While Fish and Fowl were annoying at best and Greedyguts was well, greedy, Carl was in every way possible, the con man of Montreal, and then some. Not only does he pull these awful schemes on innocent people, but he had also oftentimes shown no qualms in using brute force to deal with Jacob, even if it would result in injury or even worse, death.

While Jacob was lucky to have made it this far with so many enemies, he didn’t know how long it would be until his luck ran out. And worse, how long it would be until his friends were involved. Buford got involved with Jacob and Mr. Dinglebat as well, which also made him as much of an enemy to these villains as Jacob was.

And that? He couldn’t bear the thought of sweet and innocent Buford, or heck, even Renee and Melinda, getting hurt because he had to get involved with the wrong people and now they have to pay the price for his mistakes and _stupidity_. None of them deserved it, none of them deserved being friends with him.

He was nothing but trouble, nothing but trouble.

\------

Meanwhile, on the other side of Montreal, a certain boy was having the best day of his life. Well, that was an understatement, _every day_ just so happened to be the best day of this happy-go-lucky kid’s life. Buford Pugh was more like a dog than a person, he was the living epitome of unconditional and unbiased love, ready to greet each day with a smile on his face, no matter what.

And today was no different. Running along the sidewalk with his usual crooked grin, he was enjoying the sunshine. It was a mid-spring morning like many others, warm, sunny, with the occasional gust of wind to lull Buford into a peaceful and relaxed state of mind.

Seeing Dreary Meadows in the distance, he also saw the one person that could make his day even better, if that was somehow possible, Jacob. Running up, however, Buford saw that his best friend didn’t look as happy and cheerful as he usually did. The boy was walking around aimlessly, a distant look in his eyes, it looked like he was sulking. Maybe Jacob and Renee had another little ‘fight’ and Buford simply wasn’t around to bear witness to it.

“Hey, Jacob!” He called out trying to get his friend’s attention. It worked, but instead of the usual friendly gaze that Buford was expecting, Jacob instead snapped up with a look of absolute horror plastered on his face.

Buford skidded to a halt, was something wrong? Were the bullies nearby? Looking left and right, he realized that besides a couple of students, nothing troublesome was around. So why the shocked look?

“You okay?” He watched Jacob shake the fear off of his face, now replaced with a tired and extremely weary gaze.

“Uh, uh, I’m fine.” His friend responded, not even bothering to try to repeat himself as he usually would. Something was wrong, Buford could tell, and now it was up to him to figure out what it was.

“You sure? You don’t look too good.” Buford cocked his head, confident Jacob would fill him in on what was going on, even if it took a while of pestering. What was that saying, again? The squeaky tire gets the grease? Something like that.

“Yea…” Jacob looked even more nervous now, refusing to even look Buford in the eyes. Huh, that was unusual. Maybe his buddy just needed a little bit of extra comfort, that always worked.

“You know, if something’s wrong, you can always tell me.” He reached down, simply to pat Jacob’s shoulders, but unfortunately, that was one of the worst things Buford could have done at that moment.

Seeing Buford’s hand, Jacob panicked, throwing his hand over his neck, backing up and falling over. “Don’t hurt me!”

Buford jerked his hand back up, but at that point, it was too late and Jacob had gotten up and darted off into the building, clearly distressed. Okay, that _wasn’t_ normal, not at all. Why would he hurt Jacob, his best friend since forever? Well, it looks like it was up to him to figure that out.

“So he’s been acting weird to you as well.” A mysterious, yet familiar voice said. He jumped up, turning around in fright, before realizing it was just Renee, looking as aloof as usual.

“Gosh, Renee, you sure are good at scaring people!” He joked, trying to calm his nerves down. Sure, Jacob didn’t want to hang out with him, but that didn’t mean it was the end of the world! Or was it? What if Jacob didn’t want to be his friend anymore, or he was moving?!

“Zat wasn’t my plan.” She replied, glancing at where Jacob had run off to. “He refuses to talk to you too?”

“Y-Yeah?” Buford stuttered out, trying to keep calm, though his brain was screaming in fear and confusion. His habit of getting easily confused by the slightest thing wasn’t the best part about him, not in a long shot, but, unfortunately, this was one of those extremely confusing things. Why exactly _was_ Jacob avoiding his friends? He _had_ to be moving, that was the only possible explanation, but... 

“Interesting, he is reluctant to talk to me as well, zough he didn’t make _zat_ much of a scene.” She said, referring to Jacob running away from Buford just moments beforehand.

“You don’t think he’s moving, do you? What if we never see him again?”

“It is a possibility, but I don’t zink it’s likely. Why would he tell you not to hurt him? It doesn’t add up.”

Buford nodded, listening along. Renee was right, it was really odd, but what else could it be? He didn’t know, and it hurt his brain more and more the longer he thought about it. However, he’d be danged to heck and back if he didn’t find out what was eating his best friend up, even if they didn’t exactly want to be best friends anymore, or friends at all.

“But we’ll figure it out,won’t we? I mean, Jacob has to be avoiding us for some reason…”

Renee nodded. “Of course, mon ami. We are his friends, non? We’ll find out what’s bugging him, whezer he likes it or not!”

Of course, they were his friends, that had to mean something to Jacob, right? That’s all Buford could hope for right now, and he knew Renee felt the same.

\------

Jacob knew that running away was an overreaction to the situation, but he couldn’t control himself. How could he? As soon as Buford reached down, he didn’t see his friend, but instead, he saw the same wild and crazed animal from his dream, ready to slice and dice him.

The logical part of his brain told him that Buford would never hurt him, but it was far too late to go back and apologize now. Like go over there and say _‘Oh yea, sorry I freaked out just a second ago, I’m just trying to forget the fact that you murdered Renee and sliced my throat open in my dream last night!’_ and see how that turns out.

No one needed to know how awful he was feeling right now, no one.

But what now? Well, go to class, obviously, what else? Still, at the same time, how was he going to avoid both Buford _and_ Renee at the same time? He didn’t know, but he was sure he’d figure it out. He’d just have to be small, very small, which, thankfully, he was very good at.

Unfortunately, he sat right _next_ to Buford in class, which might spell trouble. He’d just have to be quiet and ignore Buford if the latter tried to raise a conversation with him. He knew it was wrong, but right now, he just couldn’t deal with it.

The day passed by slowly, and Buford’s constant staring was slowly driving Jacob insane. Even worse, Buford didn’t say a single word to him, instead deciding to just stare like some sort of creep. This type of behavior from anyone else would freak him out, but since it was coming from Buford, it made Jacob feel sympathetic, in a way. He knew he should say something to his friend, the person he so rudely gave the cold shoulder not even seven hours ago, but he just couldn’t.

During lunch, he sat by himself in the farthest corner of the cafeteria, where usually only the goths and emos sat. Needless to say, he didn’t really fit in, especially with his clothing style. Bright red and green were more commonly used together for Christmas decorations than something someone would wear to rebel against authority. But _anything_ was better than dealing with the emotional turmoil that came with sitting with his friends.

Finally, the bell rang for the last time and Jacob could return home. And do what exactly? He didn’t know, but not hang out with his friends, that’s for sure. He’d eventually get over his anxiety and talk to them, just not right now, not when his brain simply couldn’t distinguish dreams from reality.

Back at home, he ignored his siblings' usual gimmicks, instead opting to stay in his room, away from people. Normally, he’d play along somewhat, but right now, he simply lacked the energy to do so. In fact, his body screamed for sleep, but he knew that the second he did, he’d probably have another horrifying nightmare. Yet, at the same time, sleep was so tempting.

Still, he shook the thoughts away. The last thing he needed was even more anxiety and worry.

During dinner, he ate, sure, but didn’t really join in on any conversation, though he did listen in on his siblings’ bickering. It was something to take his mind off of everything going wrong in his life currently, and as such, it was welcome, as annoying as it usually was.

Finally, after a day of not doing much of anything but trying to not lose control like he did during the morning, it was time for bed. Laying down, he spent at least two hours just staring at the ceiling before his body gave out and he was forced to sleep.

\------

A cruel laugh filled the air as Jacob tried not to barf. He couldn’t bear to look at the scene around him, a scene which was so horrible that even the strongest of heart would probably faint at the sight of.

Every student, save for him, was _dead,_ murdered in cold blood by Greedyguts himself. Buford, Renee, Melinda, the bullies, and a bunch of other innocent students laid dead in a pool of their own blood, and Jacob was there to helplessly witness it all.

Even now, he could do nothing. Greedyguts stood there, with the biggest smile of contempt on his face, holding a knife at Jacob, ready to strike him at any moment. The poor boy wanted to run, to find help, but his legs wouldn’t budge, and the two were simply having a dark staredown.

“Nobody’s around to help you, Two-Two.” Greedyguts began, fiddling around with the knife. Jacob’s breathing quickened upon hearing this, it wasn’t like this was a lie, he truly was _alone._ Nobody was here to help him, nobody besides that fat pig would be around to hear his cries.

“I know, I know. But I’m not going to give up!” He didn’t know why he said that, it was hopeless at this point. Yet, for some reason, there was a spark of hope, that just like any hero he’d watch on TV, he’d somehow come out on top in the end. But, then again, he didn’t save his friends, did he? What kind of hero was he, if a hero at all? 

Upon thinking that, any and all hope was lost, and he fell to his knees, at Greedyguts’ mercy. “I’m… I’m not going to give up…”

Greedyguts walked over, gripping the dagger tightly. Jacob shivered, he was angry, but also scared. Angry that this man took his friends’ lives, yet scared because he didn’t want to have his life taken away as well. But he knew that arguing against this fate was pointless.

"I expected more from you, surprisingly enough. I expected you to fight, to protect your friends, but no, you just sat there and let it happen. Some friend you are, you're nothing but a coward." The boy felt tears well up, everything this man was saying was true. He wasn't Jacob Two-Two, he was Jacob the Coward! The Coward!

"Let me just start by saying that when I kill you, it'll be a favor." Greedyguts continued, not waiting for Jacob to respond. "Instead of letting you live your life knowing how much of a failure you are, I'll just let your miserable spirit rest in peace. Call it a gift from me."

Jacob nodded, tears now streaming down his cheeks like a riverbank that was just unblocked. He let out an audible sob seeing the sharp weapon now raised, ready to end him just like how it ended his friends mere minutes, or perhaps hours, ago.

"Who knows, maybe your friends will forgive you for your blatant inaction. Now just relax, this is going to hurt you a _whole_ lot more than it’s going to hurt me.”

The eleven-year-old gulped, watching the knife descend towards him. This was it, his last few moments alive. However, time seemed to have stopped, the swing seemed painfully slow, maybe Greedyguts was mocking him by making it as drawn out as possible. Brushed his hair, tickled his skin and then-

Jacob woke up in shock once more. Another nightmare? Another nightmare?! Seriously?! He touched his back, just to make sure, and of course, there was nothing there. No pain, no giant hole, absolutely nothing. Greedyguts didn't murder his friends, they're probably fast asleep right now, he wasn't murdered either, ugh, his life was such a mess right now. 

His life was a horrible, horrible mess and he didn’t know what to do.

\------

Later that morning, Buford walked to school a _little_ less joyful than normal. His friend was obviously distressed, but what was he to do? He was well known for his ability to make people happier, but telling a joke or two won’t do the trick when someone’s stressed out simply by your presence.

Renee seemed to know what she was doing and that she was confident they could figure it out, together. But at the same time, he felt that she could also make the situation way worse than it had to be.

Nearing the school, he halted, seeing Jacob wandering around aimlessly once more. In fact, it looked like his friend was moping even more pathetically, if that was even possible. Not wanting to disturb his friend like he did yesterday, Buford walked to the side, away from Jacob. It hurt to see his friend in such pain, but it was honestly all he could do right now. Jacob obviously wanted to be left alone, so Buford supposed he should just respect their wishes and do just that.

He sat on the front steps of the school, feeling more dejected than ever. Glancing over at a tree a little ways away, Buford fondly remembered the first time he met Jacob, swinging over that very same tree, on that high branch. Then Jacob’s shirt was confiscated, then the two of them, plus Renee, went down into the staffroom to retrieve it, and then-

“You alright zere?”

Just like yesterday, he jumped, before turning around. “Geez, Renee, do you always have to scare me like that?!”

“How would you prefer I scare you, zen?” She said, amusingly.

“Maybe… not at all? I’m not one for being spooked, if you know what I mean.”

“I will keep zat in mind. Why are you out here anyway?”

He looked back at the tree, a look of longing. She’d understand his pain, wouldn’t she? She seemed to understand Jacob’s, at the very least. “Just thinking about stuff, you know, the good old days? Like when I first met Jacob and when you crashed right into him.”

She rolled her eyes, obviously remembering the latter incident far too well. “How could I forget? I wasn’t aware zat _you_ were zere, zough.”

“I was in the tree!” He pointed, showing Renee. “I saw everything!”

“I see.”

An awkward silence followed and Buford once again was reminded of the situation at hand. What _did_ Renee have in mind, anyway? What was her big plan that would fix everything? Well, guess there was no harm in asking.

“So, what _are_ we gonna do about the Jacob thing?” He began, watching her move the hair out of her face.

“We confront him.”

“What?”

“Didn’t you hear me? After school, we confront him and make him tell us what’s wrong, so we can zen comfort him.”

“Doesn’t that seem kinda counterproductive?”

“What’s _your_ idea zen, oh smart one?”

This wasn’t what he was expecting at all. Gang up on Jacob, just like that? It didn’t seem like a good idea to Buford, not in the slightest. But Renee _was_ the smart one, as obvious as it was, so she must have some sort of basis in her plan for her to think it would work. Anyways, she was right, Buford sure as heck didn’t have any other idea of how to go about cheering Jacob up or how to even get him to tell them what was wrong in the first place.

“I… uh… you’re right, I suppose. I just hope it’ll work.”

“Trust me, it will.”

\------

If yesterday was bad, today was just about unbearable for poor Jacob Two-Two. Sure, he was trying his best to ignore the feeling, but being in school, being around the people who were _brutally murdered_ in his dreams last night, made him feel sick to his stomach.

In fact, he was starting to think it might’ve been an omen of some sort. A warning, to save everyone while he still could. But, it was just a simple dream, was it not? The other night he also had quite a horrific nightmare, but as far as Jacob was concerned, Buford and Renee weren’t downright terrifying creatures. He even saw Buford out of the corner of his eye earlier, but the kid walked away from him.

It was obvious he was trying to keep his distance and stay away and that just made Jacob feel worse. All Buford wanted to do was hang out, but Jacob was acting like a huge worrywart over something that probably wasn’t going to happen.

Still, even with that in mind, the day passed by with him feeling increasingly anxious, as if Greedyguts was going to open the door and start stabbing people. Jacob didn’t even know _how_ it happened in his dream, just that it did, so his guess was as good as anyone else’s.

This time, however, Buford wouldn’t even look at him, poor kid. He wanted to say something, but whenever he did, his voice died out, remembering how awful Buford looked in his latest nightmare. A bloody mess, obviously, but it was the pain on his friend’s face as he laid there unmoving that really made him stand out to Jacob. The poor guy, he was always smiling, but right now, he just looked like a broken spirit.

_A broken spirit because Jacob didn’t save him._

At lunch, Jacob ate even further away, sitting on the end corner of the farthest table, not even bothering to sit with the Goths. He couldn’t stand looking at _anybody_ right now. Not the goths, not the emos, not the punk nerds, nobody. All he wanted was to be alone, his friends were safer that way.

Spotting Greedyguts getting food just about made his blood boil, even though the principal wasn’t doing anything particularly foul that day. Again, Jacob knew it was wrong to be angry at someone for something that happened in a dream or nightmare, but he couldn’t help it. Besides, he figured that Greedyguts was guilty of _something,_ he always was. Then Jacob and his friends would stop him from whatever dumb scheme he was planning.

But would they be able to stop him now? Again, another negative thought. The trio had been incredibly lucky, none more than Jacob, but would there come a time that there’d be something they _couldn’t_ accomplish? Maybe something simple like not being able to stop Greedyguts from demolishing an important part of the school, or something major like… Carl turning his friends into scary monsters bent on eating him.

The worst part of this was that all of this was unknown right now to Jacob and it scared him, it scared him! Still, there was nothing he _could_ do about it, right? Maybe he couldn’t prevent himself from getting hurt, but at the very least he could prevent his friends from suffering.

A little while of anxious waiting later, the final bell once again rang and Jacob hopped off the steps of the school building, looking around. Buford was nowhere to be seen and neither was Renee. Good, he could get home without having another awkward conflict-

“Hey, Jacob!”

Wait, what was-

Before Jacob could register anything, something came barreling into his side, causing him to fall to the ground. Attempting to get up, he was pinned to the ground by his arms.

“Hey, what are you-” He stopped mid-sentence, seeing who it was. It was Renee who was holding him down, looking at him with what he thought was contempt. Struggling slightly, he saw Buford behind her, rubbing his hands anxiously. No, no, no, he had to get up! They _had_ to let him go! “Renee? Can… Can you let me go?”

“Not until you tell us what’s wrong!” She barked, holding him down even tighter. Struggling was useless, Renee, despite her small size, was _insanely_ strong and Jacob knew better. But he couldn’t tell them what was wrong, he… he couldn’t! But it wouldn’t be that bad, would it? They’d understand, they were his friends. No, he was never telling, never!

“I...I…” Jacob strained out, not sure what to say. He could feel himself starting to break, as much as he tried to hold himself together. Come on, don’t break down now, keep it together, Two-Two!

“Hey, Jacob, are… are you okay?” Buford asked, moving closer. He looked like a sad, sad dog that was tied up to a pole and left outside in the rain. “You remember what I said, right? You can tell us anything, we’ll understand, promise.”

That did Jacob in. His eyes began to well up with tears as he let out a small and weak sob. Renee’s face turned from one of that of a scowl to a face of concern and Buford flinched in surprise. There was no escaping it now, it was time to spill the beans.

“N-Nightmares…” He muttered, trying to catch his breath from the onslaught of sobs that wracked his chest. “Horrible… Horrible nightmares…”

“Oh? Nightmares? Oh, that makes so much more sense!” Buford cheerfully said, his bubbly personality finally back. It made Jacob feel slightly better, being that he was slightly at fault, okay, totally at fault, for making Buford so sad these past few days. “You know, I was afraid you didn’t want to be my friend anymore or you were moving and-”

“Buford, shh!” Renee scolded, before turning back to Jacob. “Have you been sleeping alright?”

The boy nodded, wiping his eyes. It wasn’t exactly a lie, he _was_ sleeping, it was just that he’d been having _horrible_ dreams whenever he did. Okay, maybe he wasn’t sleeping as much as he _should._ “I guess, I mean, I’ve been sleeping. But it’s not exactly been _good_ sleep, if you know what I mean, if you know what I mean.”

She nodded, interested. “If you don’t mind, could you tell us what zese nightmares have been about?”

Well, since they were this far, what harm could come from telling his friends? It might actually get the weight off of his shoulders and allow him to move on with his life. Maybe, maybe not. “If I do, could you get off me then, please?”

“I suppose I owe zat much to you.”

“Yea, tell us!” Jacob heard Buford clamor from his side and let out a deep sigh. Well, here goes nothing.

“Well, I… you guys remember Carl, right? The con man?” He saw his friends nod, and continued. “Well, he returned… and… and… he turned you two into monsters! And then... Buford killed you, Renee!”

Renee glared at Buford, who just sheepishly shrugged in response. “I bet I didn’t mean to kill-”

_“And then you killed me.”_

Another awkward silence filled the air, as Buford tried to defend himself. “Hey, as I said, I probably didn’t _mean_ to do it, if I was a monster… listen, monster or not, I’d _never_ harm _any_ of you guys.”

Jacob sighed. Of course Buford would never mean to kill anyone, and it didn’t even happen! It was just a dumb dream, a dumb dream! “I know, I know, trust me. It’s just… it was _scary, scary!_ ”

Renee finally let go of Jacob, hugging him softly. “I figured it would be. Zat sounds like quite ze nightmare, all right.”

_“But that wasn’t the worst one.”_ Jacob responded, somberly.

“It wasn’t? What was ze worst one?”

Jacob felt tears come up once again as he remembered last night’s ‘dream’. He shuddered, trying to bring himself to tell them the awful stuff that happened, but all he could mutter out was “Greedyguts…”

“Greedyguts? Oh, man…” Buford said, obviously more than a little freaked out.

“What did he do now?!” Renee growled, wanting Jacob to elaborate a little bit more.

“He… He killed _everyone!”_ Jacob wailed, the tears coming in at full force. He couldn’t sit up straight, so he leaned against Renee as he sobbed. “Not only you two, but Melinda, Wilson, _everyone…”_

Renee hugged him closer to her, more sympathetic as ever. “Zere, zere. It was just a dream. I assure you zat if he ever does try anyzing like zis, we’ll be zere to stop him.”

“Yea!” Buford sat down beside them, unsure of how to comfort Jacob, but still wanting to share his support as much as possible.

“But that’s just it.” Jacob hiccuped out, all his problems coming out right now. “I don’t want you guys to get hurt. I’m… I’m bad luck, bad luck!”

“What?! Jacob, you are _not_ bad luck! You’ve just had more adventures zan most kids.”

Here it comes, tell them that they shouldn’t be your friends, you’re too dangerous, everyone knows that. “You guys shouldn’t be my friends, you’d be safer, let me do the dangerous adventuring.”

“No way!” Now it was Buford’s turn to speak his mind. “We do these adventures with you because we _want_ to, right, Renee?”

Renee nodded. “Oui. We might not have been ze best of friends, but rest assured zat I enjoy ze fun zat we have. It’s way more interesting zan whatever my parents would like me to do.”

Did they really mean that? Did they really want to stick by him? Jacob looked up at them, a little confused. “You really mean that? You _want_ to be my friends? What if something bad happens, though? What if someone gets hurt?”

“Then someone gets hurt! It’s like what my dad always says, better to go out doing something you love than going out having done absolutely nothing!”

Jacob hugged them back, finally feeling better. Why wouldn't his friends want to be around him? That’s just who they were. Now, the unknown still felt mysterious, but with his friends by his side, the unknown was nothing!

“I’m sorry I made you guys worry.” He said, looking down at the ground.

“Everyone has to have their teen angst moment, too bad Renee’s been having hers since we met her!” Renee punched him lightly in the shoulder, but Jacob could tell she was resisting the urge to laugh at the remark. “Anywho, you guys wanna go to the skateboard park?”

“Sure, Buford, sure.”


End file.
